TLDR
- Cathie Wood cut her Bitcoin price forecast from $1.5 million to $1.2 million by 2030
- Stablecoins are taking market share Wood expected Bitcoin to capture in emerging markets
- The stablecoin market cap crossed $300 billion in 2025 and continues growing
- Countries like Venezuela and Argentina are using dollar-pegged stablecoins as savings vehicles
- Wood remains bullish on Bitcoin overall, viewing it as digital gold
ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood has reduced her long-term Bitcoin price forecast by $300,000. She now expects Bitcoin to reach $1.2 million by 2030 instead of her previous target of $1.5 million.
JUST IN: 💰 Cathie Wood says Ark Invest is trimming its bullish #Bitcoin forecast by $300K, citing stablecoins’ rapid growth in emerging markets, bringing the new top target to $1.2M by 2030. pic.twitter.com/rln31NwhR1
— Bitcoin.com News (@BTCTN) November 6, 2025
Wood announced the change during a CNBC interview on Thursday. She pointed to stablecoins as the main reason for the adjustment.
“Stablecoins are usurping part of the role we thought Bitcoin would play,” Wood told CNBC. She explained that stablecoins are serving emerging markets faster than expected.
The total stablecoin market cap crossed $300 billion in 2025. This growth continues at a pace that surprised many industry observers.
Wood said stablecoins are scaling much faster than anyone predicted. These digital tokens run on blockchains like Ethereum or Solana and are pegged to non-volatile assets like the US dollar.
International bank Standard Chartered projects that US dollar-pegged stablecoins could pull over $1 trillion from legacy banking systems in emerging markets by 2028. This shift is happening in countries facing hyperinflation, sanctions, or currency controls.
Venezuela serves as a prime example. The country’s annual inflation rate surged to 269% in 2025 according to International Monetary Fund data.
Emerging Markets Drive Stablecoin Adoption
Millions of Venezuelan residents have adopted dollar-pegged stablecoins like Tether’s USDt as their savings vehicle. Strict currency controls and a two-tiered exchange system in Venezuela have made stablecoins more practical than physical dollars.
Argentina faces similar economic challenges. Both countries have seen residents turn to stablecoins to protect their purchasing power.
In 2024, reports emerged that Venezuela’s government was using stablecoins to bypass US sanctions. The government reportedly used them to facilitate international oil trading.
Data from Chainalysis shows stablecoins dominated crypto value received in Latin America from 2022 to 2024. This trend reinforces Wood’s reasoning for adjusting her Bitcoin forecast.
Bitcoin Still Has Growth Potential
Despite the lower price forecast, Wood maintains a bullish stance on Bitcoin overall. She called it a “global monetary system” that serves as a store-of-value asset.
Wood compared Bitcoin to gold but noted it remains distinct from stablecoins. She emphasized that stablecoins are simply cash tokenized on a blockchain.
“I think the whole space gets bigger,” Wood said. “We have a long way to go.”
Bitcoin’s price recently stood at $101,775 according to CoinGecko. This represents a decline of over 19% from its October all-time high of $126,080.
The cryptocurrency dipped below $100,000 earlier this week for the first time in six months. Market analysts point to macroeconomic turmoil and liquidity concerns as potential factors.
Institutional crypto firm Galaxy also cut its Bitcoin price target this week. The firm lowered its 2025 forecast from $185,000 to $120,000, citing a new “maturity era” for the asset marked by institutional interest and lower volatility.
